PHS, St. Thomas football teams renew rivalry in key game tonight

Clippers to meet Saints for first time in 50 years

PORTSMOUTH — Even if it wasn't a big game, dripping with playoff implications — which it is — the first meeting between football teams from Portsmouth High School and St. Thomas Aquinas in 50 years would be intriguing.

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By Mike Zhe

seacoastonline.com

By Mike Zhe

Posted Oct. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Mike Zhe

Posted Oct. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Even if it wasn't a big game, dripping with playoff implications — which it is — the first meeting between football teams from Portsmouth High School and St. Thomas Aquinas in 50 years would be intriguing.

But, first things first. It is a big game.

"Big game," said Portsmouth senior Patrick Glynn, a two-way starter on the lines. "We're thinking if we win it, we've got a real good shot of getting in the playoffs. If we don't then it's going to be tough for us to make it there. So it's a huge week for us."

The Clippers (4-1) have won four straight, their no-huddle spread offense humming to the tune of 42.8 points a game. The Saints (5-0) have been very good defensively, allowing just 8.2 points a game, and will bring that defense here tonight (7) for its biggest test of the season.

"It's going to be a great environment," said St. Thomas coach Eric Cumba. "You can't really find a better game on the Seacoast right now."

With two playoff spots available in the East Conference of Division II, and Merrimack Valley sitting at 4-1 with a friendly remaining schedule, it's a game both teams would love to win. The Saints could absorb a loss a little easier, as they still have MV on their slate, at home on Oct. 26; the Clippers would be in a tight spot with a loss.

The two schools began rivalries in other sports when most Portsmouth teams dropped from Class L (now Division I) to Class I (now Division II) for the 2006-07 school year, the result of declining enrollment.

The three biggest moments in the rivalry came in baseball. The Clippers beat the Saints in Division II championship games in 2009 and '11 at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, as part of their national-record, 89-game win streak under coach Tim Hopley, who's also an assistant coach on the football team.

St. Thomas got some revenge in 2012, ending that 89-game streak with a 5-4 walk-off win on Dover Point. They'd go on to win the Division II championship that year.

"I don't ever remember playing them in football," said Pafford, who played at Portsmouth in the early 1980s. "But I think the rivalry that's kind of blossomed with the new division, with 'Hop' in baseball, I expect it to carry over."

Former head coach Bill Murphy, who stepped down in March after a 17-year tenure that saw him oversee teams that won the last two Division III championships, played at Portsmouth in the early 1960s, when the St. Thomas program was just getting off the ground and both teams were in Division II.

"When I played, that was the new school," said Murphy. "Our coaches felt that if we lost, the football players in Portsmouth would want to go to St. Thomas. There was some pressure. ...; It was a competitive series for as long as we had it."

The programs have mostly played football in different classifications since then, but aren't all that dissimilar. The Saints had 65 players come out for tryouts, the Clippers about 75.

Both run spread offenses with the University of New Hampshire stamp on them — St. Thomas because their coach — Cumba — was a standout offensive lineman there on some excellent teams a few years back, and Portsmouth because Pafford and his staff studied the things then-UNH offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was doing before he left for Oregon and implemented some of them.

"There's a Chip influence on us," said Pafford, "but there's also stuff we've developed. If you watch Eric and St. Thomas, they run what's UNH's base offense."

Both programs have known for months they'd be crossing paths. That they do with gaudy records makes the match-up a perfect first storm.

"I've tried not to think about them until it was coming, but now it's coming," said St. Thomas cornerback Kevin Kaneb, a junior captain from South Hampton. "I feel like if we can prepare well enough we can stop them. We know they're not invincible. They lost one game,"

The Clippers think they've made strides since a Week 1 loss to Trinity, a 58-37 outcome that saw two of their quarterbacks get injured and their defense get burned over the top. Nobody lately is slowing down an offense paced by dual-threat quarterback Donovan Phanor and fullback Mikel Toar.

The Saints, meanwhile, have taken care of business against teams with a cumulative record of 7-18, with one of those wins a forfeit. But senior running back/cornerback Jake Geppert (490 yards) is having a Player of the Year-type season on both sides of the ball, and his defense is making plays and forcing turnovers.

"I'm looking forward to it and I think everybody else should be," said Kaneb. "It's going to be an interesting one. It's two teams that pass a lot and have real good defenses. I'm really excited for it."

We all are.

"The first challenge is the tradition they have," said Cumba. "Portsmouth has been a top program in Division III for as long as I can remember. They've got good kids, and it seems like the kids that leave get replaced by kids who are as good or better."